The tariffs turned on a fat revenue stream for Trump's Treasury. And brought a long queue of kneelers to his door, begging for tariff exemptions for their businesses.
Yes, eventually, after they were paused and walked back some. But immediately following Obliteration Day, they caused the stock and bond markets to crash. We were lucky that this time, the toothpaste could be put back in the tube.
But that's a bad thing, special exemptions to tariffs based on patronage is good for Trump but terrible for the US. That's exactly one of the biggest reasons tariffs are so bad.
